New Donate Button

Got the new donate button installed and already have a few folks chomping at the bit to put money in there.  It will still be a week or so before I have most everything set up.

I am setting up my tiny router on a new table dedicated to drawers, so there will be more than just planters on the menu.

Marathon in the Florida Keys should be your next fishing vacation destination. Join us for charter fishing, fishing guide trips or our fishing 101 so you can fish on your own with better success. 

 Tight lines, 

 Capt. Dallas

Trapyard Chic Hydroponic Prototypes

I am waiting on some tools to come, but I have made a few "prototypes" using what I have.  The gallon canisters from the Dollar store make good reservoirs for simple hydroponic methods and the Trapyard Chic boxes hide all the ugly stuff.

With any luck, I will have the nonprofit link and some recommended donation value for local [pickup if anyone is interested.

Marathon in the Florida Keys should be your next fishing vacation destination. Join us for charter  fishing, fishing guide trips or our fishing 101 so you can fish on your own with better success. 

 Tight lines, 

 Capt.(ret) Dallas

Recovering on the Florida Keys

I discovered I likely had oral cancer in December of 2019 while getting my teeth checked out at the local clinic.  Thanks to not being able to get an appointment with an oral surgeon, then insurance issues,

 then the Covid 19 lockdown, it was March before the cancer surgery ball got rolling.  What could have been a minor surgery turned into a ten hour surgery, ten days in intensive care, and nearly a month in the hospital with feeding tubes and a trach tube.

To add insult to injury, because of inactivity I developed a blood clot (DVT) which became a saddle pulmonary embolism which require emergency clot buster surgery a couple months on oxygen tank 

Thanks toe serving in the army and hitting the magic Medicare age, almost all of the medical expenses were covered.  The reason for this post is that little bit that was not covered.

Since I no longer need oxygen and appear to be cancer free, I have started making a few things in my work shop that I hope to use to raise donations for my and any other fisherman in Marathon than needs emergency medical assistance at Fisherman's Hospital.

Hexagon shaped planters like above are just one of the items I make that people seem to like.  This one is used to hide 12 inch black plastic pots, but can be used as a pot if you like,  Sanded and stained they look quite nice.

I haven't set up the account for charitable donations yet, but everything is going to charity once I get going.  So this is just a heads up that I am still alive and planning to get into your wallets :}

Don't forget, Marathon in the Florida Keys should be your next fishing vacation destination. Join us for charter fishing, fishing guide trips or our fishing 101 so you can fish on your own with better success. Tight lines, Capt. Dalla    

Chicago Joe meets the big deck

 Chicago Joe and fam came down for the week so I had to get off the big deck and go fishing.

The Yellow Jacks showed up to stretch lines and fill the box.  Not much else unfortunately, but they were good sized and most are off to the smoker.

Back in the bay the day before we did okay on decent size Mangrove Snapper and played with a shark or two.

Wanted to get out on the reef but the seas were just big enough to be uncomfortable. In any case, the crew had fun inspite of not being able to keep a few nice Hogfish thanks to progressive idiots in charge of regulations.

If you are worried about bait in the bay after all the red tide news don't be, there is plenty.

Since I mentioned the big deck here is photo from the construction.  A house on 26th street had to be rebuilt on stilts after Irma so I spent a weekend salvaging their deck.

Marathon in the Florida Keys should be your next fishing vacation destination. Join us for charter fishing, fishing guide trips or our fishing 101 so you can fish on your own with better success.

 Tight lines,

 Capt. (ret.) Dallas

Fun in the bay

This a bit staged photo of a large in any case Cero Mackerel caught on a bay side half day.   Along with the few mackerel they brought back a limit of Mangrove Snapper.

Weather this year is back to a more normal blow and light wind schedule.   On the light wind days the dolphin bite has been pretty good plus plenty of tuna so far.

This is all subject to change, but I like it this way.  Since I am officially retired, picking days that are lighter to save on wear and tear does not hurt the wallet so much.

Marathon in the Florida Keys should be your next fishing vacation destination. Join us for charter fishing, fishing guide trips or our fishing 101 so you can fish on your own with better success.

 Tight lines,

 Capt(ret). Dallas

New tablet for blogging

Just got a new tablet that makes blogging a little easier.  Since I am now officially retired I will posting more weird stuff like fun fishing.  Oh wait, I already do that.

Pictures of David working.

Results of a quick hump day hump trip.

Unfortunately we lost the bigger bull dolphin due to a mechanical issue, but the crew had plenty of fun anyway.
Marathon in the Florida Keys should be your next fishing vacation destination. Join us for charter fishing, fishing guide trips or our fishing 101 so you can fish on your own with better success.

 Tight lines,

 Capt. Dallas

Things since November

• Still fishing and bitching about blogging from my phone.  I have been more busy piddling around the RV than normal since we will likely be at the temporary spot for another year.

On the fishing side of things closures of species that I tend to target is getting old.  Red Grouper closed this year before the Jan 1 scheduled closure.  Hogfish are closed until March which sucks big-time for winter vacationers.

On the bright side the catching has been good for most everything else.  Plenty of snapper and mackerel biting plus offshore has been pretty steady for calmer days.

Lodging is greatly improved for vacationers but affordable housing for staff is way behind.

The Winn-Dixie in town is still closed along with burger king, Wendy's and a few other places but most places are back to normal.

Posted a few pics of things since November.

Marathon in the Florida Keys should be
your next fishing vacation destination. Join us for charter fishing, fishing guide trips or our fishing 101 so you can fish on your own with better success.

 Tight lines,

 Capt. Dallas

Posting is a PITA

Father and son double up.  I took these guys last year for a fishing 101.  This year the full month made things tougher so they booked a refresher course.

With the moon tides, the bait doesn't last as long.  We caught the tide right and the nearly limited out on respectable 'tail.

Hard they wanted Cero Mackerel they could have filled the box.  They even had a King Mackerel that along with the two Cero made a nice bucket of fish dip for Porky's Bay side and a quart for me of course.

Still haven't fixed or replaced my laptop so posting is a pain in my Democrat.


Marathon in the Florida Keys should be your next fishing vacation destination. Join us for charter fishing, fishing guide trips or our fishing 101 so you can fish on your own with better success.

 Tight lines,

 Capt. Dallas

Summer fishing

Just typical summer fishing.

Good numbers of swingers if you spend some time hunting.

Plenty of action on the reef if you have a decent current.

Marathon in the Florida Keys should be your next fishing vacation destination. Join us for charter fishing, fishing guide trips or our fishing 101 so you can fish on your own with better success.

 Tight lines,

 Capt. Dallas

 More Yellowtail Snapper fishing 101.  One thing I may have forgotten in previous posts is getting fish in the boat.  Sometimes you may need the gaff so shoot for the gills to avoid damaging those tasty fillets.

Marathon in the Florida Keys should be your next fishing vacation destination. Join us for charter fishing, fishing guide trips or our fishing 101 so you can fish on your own with better success.

 Tight lines,

 Capt. Dallas

Post flag day flags

Nice half day on the Lady Catherine.

Marathon in the Florida Keys should be your next fishing vacation destination. Join us for charter fishing, fishing guide trips or our fishing 101 so you can fish on your own with better success. Tight lines, Capt. Dallas

Lazy but still fishing

Piddling around the new RV and suffering through the Flu has limited my will to blog.  But I am still sucking air and getting out on the water.

It has been a slower than normal season.  Due to on going Irma recovery and wet/windy weather.  Fishing is tending to be ready or famine with lots of predators wanting your catch.

Tripletail and small tuna

Offshore has been slow for Dolphin of any size.  There are some nice Tripletail around and Black Fin tuna with a few Skipjack mixed in.

We did hook one slammer Dolphin of about 30 pounds but my angler got tip wrapped fairly early in the fight.

The Permit are on the wrecks as usual.  Reef snapper bite has been off with the full moon but there are lots other fish that will come into the slick like Yellowjack, Barjack, Mackerel and Lil' Tunny to produce some action.

New Cheap Gear to Play With

Fin-Nor Megalite 60 spinning reels qualify as cheap gear if you spend some time shopping.  These averaged $37 each including Florida sales tax.

I have had the Sojourn rods for a couple years and they were $30 each.  So for less than $70 a set these cheap combos are a little cheaper than the combos I tested a couple years ago.

Zebco appears to own the Fin-Nor name and the reels are made in China to Zebco's "standards."  They look well built with stainless, aluminum and carbon fiber construction.  In fact, they are much higher quality than the Aeries combos that lasted pretty well.

With no maintenance at all both Aeries reels lasted 2 seasons.  One is still going strong with just a little TLC.

I have the Megalites spoiled with approximately 220 yards of 20# clear mono and they can hold about 300 yards of 15# mono.

This time instead of zero maintenance, these will see some soap and lubrication once in a while.